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Field Validation of Wake Steering Control with Wind Direction Variability

Journal Article · · Journal of Physics. Conference Series

Wake steering is a wind farm control strategy wherein upstream turbines are misaligned with the wind direction to redirect their wakes away from downstream turbines, increasing overall wind plant power. Wake steering is often analyzed assuming steady mean wind directions across the wind farm. However, in practice, the wind direction varies considerably over time because of large-scale weather phenomena. Wind direction variability causes the increase in power production from wake-steering to be less than predicted by steady-state models, but more robust wake-steering strategies can be designed that account for variable wind conditions. This paper compares the achieved yaw offsets and power gains from two different 2-turbine wake-steering experiments at a commercial wind farm with model predictions using the FLOw Redirection and Induction in Steady State (FLORIS) control-oriented model, assuming both fixed and variable wind directions. The impact of wind direction variability is modeled by including wind direction and yaw uncertainty in the FLORIS calculations. The field results match the trends predicted, assuming wind direction variability. Specifically, the yaw offsets achieved in the intended control regions are lower than desired, resulting in less power gain, while a slight loss in power occurs for wind directions outside of the intended control region because of unintentional yaw misalignment. The agreement between the model and field results suggests that the wind direction variability model can be used to design wake-steering controllers that are more robust to variable wind conditions present in the field.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Wind Energy Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1659967
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5000-77193; MainId:26139; UUID:e4009a7e-e420-4952-a073-8e083f2ceac5; MainAdminID:13703
Journal Information:
Journal of Physics. Conference Series, Journal Name: Journal of Physics. Conference Series Vol. 1452; ISSN 1742-6588
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (11)

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Wake steering via yaw control in multi-turbine wind farms: Recommendations based on large-eddy simulation journal June 2019
Wind farm power optimization through wake steering journal July 2019
Optimization Under Uncertainty for Wake Steering Strategies journal May 2017
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Field test of wake steering at an offshore wind farm journal January 2017
Lidar-based wake tracking for closed-loop wind farm control journal January 2017
Assessment of wind turbine component loads under yaw-offset conditions journal January 2018
A simulation study demonstrating the importance of large-scale trailing vortices in wake steering journal January 2018
Robust active wake control in consideration of wind direction variability and uncertainty journal January 2018
Initial results from a field campaign of wake steering applied at a commercial wind farm – Part 1 journal January 2019

Cited By (1)

Axial induction controller field test at Sedini wind farm journal January 2021

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